During a working session held in the province on Thursday by the National Assembly Standing Committee task force and ministries, the committee said that it would be difficult to resettle affected households and provide them with financial support.

Chairman of the committee Dinh Quoc Thai said that an estimated VND13 trillion (US$613 million) was needed for compensation and site clearance.

In the first phase of construction, more than 2,500ha in Binh Son, Long An, Suoi Trau and Cam Duong communes will be revoked and the 1,800 affected households will be compensated about VND5 trillion ($235 million).

In the second phase, about 2,500 ha will be revoked and more than VND8 trillion ($377 million) will be spent to compensate 2,700 affected households.

Thai said the province had allocated two 282ha resettlement areas north of the airport, which would accommodate 3,500 households and cost VND5.3 trillion ($250 million).

The province had also begun to work on vocational training for affected residents.

To ensure that site clearance was on schedule, the committee proposed to the Government that it be in charge of compensating, resettling and creating jobs for affected households. It also suggested the Government allocate capital for compensation and resettlement.

Chairman of the National Assembly Economic Committee Nguyen Van Giau said these suggestions would be transferred to the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration.

The Long Thanh International Airport project is scheduled to be built in three phases. During the first phase, scheduled to be completed in 2025, the airport will be able to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo per year. An estimated VND164 trillion (nearly $7.8 billion) will be allocated to Phase 1, with VND85 trillion coming from the State budget and the rest coming from official development assistance.

The airport is expected to serve 80 million and 100 million passengers each year by the end of the second and third phase respectively.